> It went plonk, it went kablooey, it went shhhh, and it went blink.
> But most importantly, it went whushhhak. -- Anon Guest
Sound was all that was left. The darkness was absolute, and Phel's ability to feel was impaired by the chemicals that the enemy had forced into hir system. Ze learned quickly how the Zebnaki pirates sounded when they moved, and also learned to avoid them. They had patterns of movement, too, and it helped.
Phel made it all the way to the escape pods, but the instructions were on a screen, and the crew were too close to activate the audio. There wasn't much that ze could puzzle out by hir limited sense of feel alone. Therefore, ze found a place nearby to conceal hirself, and hoped. Her Human friend, Phil, had taught hir all of this. Alternative coping strategies, she called it. Find a way or make a way.
Phil was very good at making a way. She could bull her way through most obstacles and think her way around everything else. And, when everything else failed, she could make her way via sheer, unadulterated persistence and determination. _Humans used to hunt by chasing things to death._ Phil was, comparatively, rather abrupt.
Phel had found food supplies and made hir stealthy way to retrieve a meal while she waited. She was not as quiet as Phil was, but the Zebnaki weren't quiet, either. They were not listening for, say, an escaped Lothik with impaired senses creeping around in the access tubes. One of Phil's first lessons: _assumptions will always bite you in the ass._ They assumed that Phel was still in hir containment chamber. Pity for them that Phel had learned about the usefulness of paperclips.
They also assumed that a Human couldn't possibly track them. Ha! Humans had grown into cogniscence by being long-term pursuit predators. All Phel had to do was avoid the Zebnaki, recover from the chemicals, and wait. Ze didn't have to wait long.
Something not Zebnaki was on the ship. Phel traced the sounds.
_Plonk._ The soft sound of a human landing with as little sound as possible.
_Kablooey!_ Almost an hour later, the definite sound of an engine drive going to the eternal scrapyard. Phil was _here_.
_Shhhh..._ Human Phil shushing hir because stealth was, unbelievably, still part of this rescue.
_...blink._ The soft noise of the Autodiagnostic.
"Ah," whispered Phil. "You have some metal lodged in a nerve cluster. This is gonna hurt like a sumbitch..."
Phel held hir breath at the sharp tug. Clenched at the sting of the clotter fabric.
"I got'cha buddy. I got'cha. Just breathe, now. Breathe with me." Phil coached Phel in hir preferred de-stresser techniques. "It's good, now, it's good. Give it a minute or so, but I'm'a still getting you out of here.
The most important sound was a _whushhhak._ The sound of the escape pod door opening. Tingling sensation returned to Phel's extremities, making Phil's touch feel like a million prickling needles concussing hir carapace. Phel let Phil buckle hir in, and then heard, "I'll be back in five minutes. This is gonna launch anyway in ten. You'll be good, I swear.
There was another _whushhhak_ as the door closed again. Phel counted seconds in hir head. One minute. Two minutes. There was nothing but darkness and the tingling return of sensation and the low hum of the warming engines of the pod. Three minutes. Four.
_Whushhhak._ Twice. The panting breaths of Phil. "Okay. Let's haul ass."
Light returned in random colours. Evidently, the metal in hir nerves had effected hir vision as well. The jolt away from the afflicted Zebnaki pirate vessel caused a scattering of bright blobs that dissipated to reveal the world. Human Phil sitting across from hir with that typical cocky smile on her face.
Even as the vision impairment faded, Phel felt a lot better about hir place in the universe. "I'm so glad to see you again," ze sighed. "I'm so glad to see anything again."
Phil grinned. "I got 'em good. They're not going to try that twice."
Phil's methods rather made sure of that.
[Image <a href="https://www.canstockphoto.com">(c) Can Stock Photo / AlgolOnline</a>]
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